Combined buckle and strap-end attachment.



E. HARTMANN. COMBINED BUCKLE AND STRAP END ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 14, 1912.

Patented Oct. 13, 1914.

' INVENTOI? them to the length required by the girth of UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EMIL HARTMAN N, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO ALMA MANUFACTURING COMPANY OF BALTIMORE CITY, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, A CORPORATION OF MARYLAND.

Specification oi LettersPatent. Application filed November 14, -1912. Serial No. 731,386.

Patented Oct. 13, 1914.

To all whom it may concern.

Beit known that I, EMIL HAR'riuaNN, a citizen of the United States, IBSIdlIlg at- Baltimore, in theState of Maryland, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Combined Buckles and Strap-End 'matching the garment on which they are used, as well as touse straps of leather, and it is desirable to have the buckle he as flat as possible upon the wearer, without unsightly and obstructive projection from the wearer. Straps are usually furnished of maximum length, and are cutofl at that end which is fixed to the buckle, so as to reduce the individual wearer. When a strap is fixed to the buckle by looping one end around a cross-bar of the buckle and then sewing or riveting it in place, the double thickness of the loop causes the buckle to stand off from the wearer in an unsightly.

manner, and a clumsiness is more or less apparent.

The object of this invention is to furnish a buckle which will facilitate the application of the strap end to it without protuberance and engage the free end of the strap in a fiat and inconspicuous way.

The invention consists of a combined buckle and attachment thereon for applying the strap to the buckle without looping the strap end or sewing or riveting it to the buckle, in which the buckle frame is supplied at or near one end with a sliding; tongue to engage the free end of the strap and hold it in adjusted position, and is also supplied at or near its opposite end with a;

clamping lever by which the other end of the strap may be anchored in an adjustable way to the buckle without looping, or otherwise bending it, or fastening it, so that the strap or belt when applied to a wearer lies fiat upon the wearer, in, a sightly, unobtrusive -and unobstructive way, as I will proceed now to explain and finally claim.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating the invention, in theseveral figures of which like parts are similarly designated,

,Figure 1 is a top plan View, and Fig. 2 is a bottom plan or inverted view of the buckle with the clamping lever, opened up. Fig. 3

is-a longitudinal section on line A B, Fig. 1, with the clamping lever closed. Fig. 1 is a transverse section on line C D, and Fig. 5 is alongitudinal section on line E F, Fig. 1, said :13 ig. 5 showing the strap applied to the buckle and its free end gripped by it. Fig. 6 is a top plan view, and Fig. 7 is a cross-section on line G H, Fig. 6, showing a modification of the clamping feature.

Figs. 8 to 12, inclusive, show another modification of the construction of the buckle, Fig. 8 being a top plan'view; Fig. 9 an inverted bottom plan View; Fig. 10 a longitudinal section on the line I J, Fig. 8; Fig. .11 a cross-section on the line K L, Fig. 8, and Fig. 12 a longitudinal section'like Fig. 10, showing the strap ends in position of use,

In the preferred construction the frame of the buckle comprises side-bars 1, having the rearwardly extended and introverted flanges 2 which form a runway for the sliding tongue presently described; end bars 3 and 4; and an intermediate cross-bar 5, thus leaving the openings 6 and 7 for the passage of the free end of the. strap. The cross-bar 5 has the openings 8 at opposite sides, the metal of said bar thus out instead of being entirely removed, being turned back from the. interior of the frame substantiall at right-angles thereto and pierced to orm bearings 9 to receive the trunnions 10 which project laterall from the clamping lever 11 which is use to: attach the strap-end. These bearings abut against the inner edges of the flanges 2 and by them are buttressed against lateral spreading. This, lever comprises a finger-hold or operating arm 12 and a gripping arm '13, the edge of which latter is scalloped as at 14, and these scallops are alined with the holes 8 left by the turning out of'the bearings 9 and with in termediate holes 15, so that as the lever is moved upon its fulcrums in the bearings 9 to clamp the strap end, its scallops will force the material of the strap end more or less intothese several holes, as shown in Fig. 5, and thereby add to the security of the attachment. As shownin Fig. 5, it is unnecessary to loop the strap end about any portion of the buckle, and all that is necessary to secure it is to pass it from the left between the cross-bar and lever and then tively, and attachment by loops and sewing or riveting avoided. The sliding tongue 16 has an opening 17 for the passage of the free end of the strap,

anda strap-gripping edge 18 provided with the upstanding rearwardly inclined dents 19, and these dents are arranged back of the leading edge of this gripping edge so as to give an effective straightedge on the tongue to cooperate with the adjacent straight edge of the end-bar 3 to grip the strap while the dents crimp the strap longitudinally to aid in holding it in its adjusted position, as it is passed up from the back of the buckle through the opening 17 in the tongue and the opening 6 in the frame; the finger-hold 20, on the tongue serving to put a bight in the strap when strain is applied to the strap or belt.

In the modification shown in Figs. 6 and 7, instead of using a series of openings in the cross-bar as in the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 5, I employ a continuous opening 21 and instead of scalloping the edge of the gripping arm of the clampinglever 11, said arm is made with a series of flat edged parts 22, Fig. 7. This construction is especially adaptedfor use in connection with leather straps, and substantially with the effect of crowding the strap or belt in the opening when clamped as described with reference tothe construction of the preceding figures. In the modification shown in Figs. 8 to 12, the clamping lever 11 is pivoted in bearings 9 cut from a cross-bar 23, but the intermediate openings in this cross-bar are omitted. In this case it is advisable to replace the scalloped clamping edge with a series of prongs 24:, Figs. 9and 11, brought to more or less sharp points, those prongs adjacent to the openings 8 from which the bearings are cut serving to crowd the belt into such 50 openings and the intermediate prongs crowding the belt against the solid under: side of the intermediate portion of the crossbar. As shown in this modification, the bearings 9 for the clamping lever are made on an attached cross-bar 23; that is to say, a cross-bar which is not an integral part of the frame of the buckle as in the previously described constructions. This cross-bar is inserted in the runway formed by the introverted side flanges and held in place therein by pinching the sides, or by any other suitable means that will serve to fixidly locate the cross-bar in the desired position in the frame. 5 In the modification shown in Figs. 8 to 12,

a form-of sliding tongue 25 is shown which is in substance the same as that covered by Patent No. 987,576, granted March 21, 1911.. Also'as herein shown the buckle frame may be modified by having its end bars 26 and 27 reinforced by reverting the metal cut to form the end slots or openings, as shown more particularly in Figs. 10 and 12.

The manner of applying the strap end to the buckle and then engaging the free or adjustable or fastening end is shown in Figs. 5 and 12, and in these views 28 indicates the strap end which is clamped to the buckle by the clamping lever, while 29 indicates the free end of a strap attached to a garment or the other end of the strap which is adjustably engaged by the tongue member. The sliding tongue in every instance has a limited movement lengthwise of the frame, be-

tween the adjacent end-bar and the cross- .bar, and this may be effected by various means, such as the dents 19, Figs. 1 to 9, or the .boss and slot, Figs. 8 to 12, which in addition to their other functions serve this purpose and prevent the escape of the tongue from the buckle frame.

By the several constructions herein shown, there is provided a very strong and dependable clamp; the strap is housed within the flanged sides of the frame and lies flat in it and affords no appreciable projection. The sliding tongue grips the free end of the strap or belt without the necessity of making holes in the strap or belt; and in the present style of cloth belts or cloth-coveredbelts it is necessary to work or stitch the eyelets in the same,and this necessity is avoided also. The frame of the buckle forms a sort of easing or housing Within which the strap or belt lies flat, as stated, and as a result the strap and buckle present a nearly unbroken line, wholly unlike the protuberant pronged buckles now commonly used. The clamp is simple but powerful, and forces the material of the belt into the holes in the cross-bar of the buckle so that no ordinary efforts can pull the strap or belt out of the grip of the clamp. The grip in practise is so tight and desirablyso, as to prevent accidental disengagement and avoid the necessity forfrequent adjustment, and to such an extent thatin order to release the clamping lever considerable effort is required. Obviously, if the gripping element of the clampin lever does not penetrate the strap or belt, there is no injury to such strap or belt.

Furthermore, it is to be noted that in all of the flanges, as already indicated, serve to buttress the bearings.

The variations in the cross-bar, clamping lever and sliding tongue are interchangeable in the several constructions, and these and other changes are considered and intended to be within the principle of the invention as claimed. What I claim is 1. A combined buckle and strap-end attachment, comprising a frame having sidebars extending rearwardly and terminating in introverted flanges, end-bars and an intermediate cross-bar, with openings between the end-bars and cross-bars for the passage of the adjustable end of the strap,.a sliding tongue arranged at one end of the frame in the flanged side-bars and provided with means cooperating with the frame to permit only a limited longitudinal movement therein toward and from the adjacent end-" bar to grip the strap-end in adjusted position between itself and such end-bar and to release it, a strap-anchoring lever arranged adjacent to the opposite end of the frame, and bearings extending rearwardly from the front of the frame in which the lever is pivoted, whereby the strap-end maybe clamped between the lever and the frame.

2. A combined buckle and strap-end attachment, comprising a frame having, sidebars extending rearwardly and terminating in introverted flanges, end-bars and an intermediate cross-bar, with openings between the ends-bars and cross-bars for the passage of the adjustable endof the strap, a sliding tongue arranged at one end of the frame in Ithe flanged side-bars and provided with stopping means coacting with the frame to limit its longitudinal, movement therein toward and from the-adjacent end-bar to grip frame havings rearwardly extending introverted side flanges adapted to support the tongue, end-bars, and an intermediate crossbar between which and the end-bars are openings for the passage of the adjustable end of the strap, bearings extending rearwardly from and integral with the crossbar at opposite sides of said frame alongside of said flanges, and a clamping lever fulorumed in said bearings beneath the crossbars, said frame having openings in its face and the clamping lever having projections arranged opposite said, openings whereby a strapend may be attached to the buckle byclamping it between the clamping-lever and the frame, combined with a tongue arranged in said flanges and slidable therein lengthwise of the frame between the crossbar and one of the end-bars and adapted to engage and release the free end of the strap or belt.

4. A combined buckle and strap-end attachment, comprising essentially a buckle frame having rearwardly extending introverted side flanges adapted to support the tongue, end-bars, and an intermediate crossbar between which and the end-bars are openings for the passage of the adjustable end of the strap, bearings extending rearwardly from opposite-sides of said frame alongside of said flanges, and a clamping lever fulcrumed in said bearings beneath the cross-bar, said cross-bar having a series of openings extending crosswise of the frame, and said clamping lever having its strapengaging part scalloped complementally to theopenings in the cross-bar in alinement with said openings so as to force the strap into gripping relation with the cross-bar, and a tongue mounted in the side-flanges and slidable therein between the cross-bar and the adjacent end-bar and means to limit its movement between such cross-bar and end-bar, and having a transverse opening alined with the adjacent opening in the frame for the passage of the strap-end to be buckled, all combined and arranged to operate substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 13th day of November A. D. 1912. o

EMIL HARTMANN.

' Witnesses v WM. D. PAN'I'IIER, NELLIE DOYLE. 

